"This is unknown territory," admitted Cook. "We haven't done it before. It is a bit like the three captains.

"That was new and I thought it worked really well because of the energy the captains brought to their side.

"I can see this working the same way on the coaching side.

"We are going to have to work very hard on the relationship. I am sure, as we get used to it, the relationship will improve. I have no worries about it working well."

England head to India having beaten the 50-over world champions only once in their last 18 one-day internationals in India dating back to 2002, losing the last three away series 5-1 (in 2006), 5-0 (in 2008) and 5-0 (in 2011).

They begin their tour with two warm-up games on Sunday and Tuesday, before they face India in the first one-day international in Rajkot on 11 January.